Said antoine



A. D. ANTOINE & C. C. TRAVIS.

CHECK CONTROLLED VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. 16, I912.

Patented Au 29, 1916.

J GWWS. flyrwifl Mme Gdarenoe G. flax/W15 A. D. ANTOINE & C. C. TRAVIS CHECK CONTROLLED VENDING MACHINE.

' APPLICATION FILED DEC. 16. 1912- 1,196,067.

m mmmwfimfl ZV m 6 m Du g fly 65 A. D. ANTOINE & C. C. TRAVIS.

CHECK CONTROLLED VENDING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED DEC.I6,1912.

Patented Aug. 29, 1916.

' 3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

-E........ IIIIIII lm Willi-MIN HIIIII UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALFRED D. ANTOINE AND CLARENCE C. TRAVIS, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS; SAID ANTOINE ASSIGNOR TO SAID TRAVIS.

CHECK-CONTROLLED VENDING-MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 29, 19.1.6.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, ALFRED D. ANTOINE and CLAnnNon C. TRAVIS, citizens of, the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Check-Controlled Vending-Machines, of which the following is a specifica tion.

This :invention relates to improvements in check controlled vending machines and one of the objects of the invention is to provide an improved machine of this class having means for locking the mechanism against operation after the last article has been delivered from the machine, thereby preventing a check or coin from being delivered into the machine and out of the reach of the operator when the machine is empty of the articles to be vended. I

A further object is to provide an improved check controlled mechanism having means whereby it will be impossible to operate the delivery mechanism unless a check or coin of the proper denomination or character is employed.

A further object is to provide an improved form of casing for the articles to be vcnded.

A further object is to provide an im proved machine of this class having a guard for protecting the articles so that the articles cannot be removed by the insertion of an instrument or wire into the machine.

A further object is to provide an improved machine of this class having an ejector for ejecting the articles, and means for locking the ejector against operation after the last article has been delivered thereby, from the machine.

A further object is to provide an improved device of this class which will be simple, durable, cheap and compact in construction, and effective, efiicient and positive in operation.

To the attainment of these ends and the accomplishment of other new and useful objects as will appear, the invention consists in the features of novelty in substantially the construction, combination and arrangement ofthe several parts hereinafter more fully described and claimed and shown in the accompanying drawings exemplifying the invention and in which Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view of an improved device of this class constructed in accordance with the principles of this invention and as taken on line 1-1, Fig. 7. Fig. 2 is a detail view partly in elevation and partly in section and as taken on line 22, Fig. 7. Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken on line 33, Fig. 1. Fig. 4 is a horizontal sectional view of a portion of the casing for the articles. Fig. 5 is a view similar to Fig. 2 with the parts shown in a different position. Fig. 6 is a detail view in elevation of a portion of the side of the casing. Fig. 7 is a rear view of the parts shown in Fig. 1 with the back of the casing removed. Fig. 8 is a view taken on line 88, Fig. 9 with parts broken away and showing the parts in the positions which they will assume when a check of the proper denomination is deposited in the machine to operate the ejector. Fig. 9 is a sectional view taken on line 9--9, Fig. 7. Fig. 10 is a detail longitudinal sectional view of a portion of the casing showing the ejector and the follower and the positions they will as sume when the follower operates to lock the ejector. Fig. 11 is a detail view, partly in section showing the locking stops of the elements of the check controlled mechanism.

Referring more particularly to the drawings and in the present exempliiication of this invention the reference numeral 15 designates generally a casing which is constructed of any desired size and configuration, the base of which casing is preferably somewhat larger than the upper portion of the casing, and in which upper portion the articles 16 to be vended are located.

The casing is preferably constructed of sheet material and the upper part of the casing designated generally by the reference numeral 17 comprises front and side walls, the latter being designated by the reference numeral 18. The extremities of these side walls 18 are deflected laterally as at 19 toward and terminate some distance short .of each other, so that the laterally deflected portions 19 together with the side walls 18 and the front (it this portion of the casing cons tute and il orm a. chute for receiving and holding the articles ll). The chute thus formed preterably of a size only slightly largrer than the articles 16 and the de'llected portions 19 terminate short of the upper extremity oi" the casing which latter is :l'ormed y the laterally del'lected portion 20, (see Fin. ll, to ilorm an opening: through which the articles may be placed into the chat thus trained The late 'ally dellected portions 19 also preterahly terminate short ot the enlargaal portion of the base of the casing. the casing being provided with an inclined portion 31 tin-mine a closure "for the space which would be framed between the base and the upper portion of the using 17. as shown mor clearly in Figs. 1 and (3. The casing beingconstrufied of sheet material is provided with overlapping ends or edges as shown and these overlapping portions arrsecured together by any desired or suitable ta teningr device. i'xnanfged adjacent the bottom of the chute and preterably beneath the extremities of the deflected portions 19 is a support upon which the articles lli rest. and a follower 23 rests upon the art sles. The support 2' is preferably slialitl -i inclined and is provided with an inclined wall i so as to properly position the articles on the suppz'irt. It plate is provided within the chute to form a partial closure for the opening between the reduced and enlarged portions of the casing and above the support This plate terminates short ot the support to form an opening thriiug'h which the articles are ejected. and a guard 97 is pivotally sup ported as at so to extend across the openiir ii to -form a closure therefor to prevent the removal ot the articles by the insertion o t an instrument or wire tl'irougg'h the opening 29 in the base 15 ot the casing.

'i no sup iort is preferably formed as a part o l? a delivery tray which is arranged within the casing; and has a rear wall 31, while the tor-ward extremity 32 projects through the opening 29 beyond the face of the casing. This support .22 and tray are held in position in an y suitable manner preferably by means o'l ears or lugs 8% which are fastened to the sides of the casing. The back o l the *asing thus formed is open and a closure 35 is provided for this opening. This closure is provided with apertures or openings through which suit-able 'li'astening devices 3'? pass and by means of which closure the mechanism is supported. The clo sure is provided with a lip 38 at its lower extremities which hooks over curved flanged portion 39 while the upper extremity of the closure is provided with a laterally deflected flange 1 0 which verhangs an upwardly projecting flange 1-1 on the top 20 of the casin it fastening device l2 such as a lock is provided and which is operated by a key preterably along the front of the :asing. The bolt ol the loclt passes through an aperture in a bracket or arm t carried by the closure 35 and which projects into the casino so that when it is desired to gain access to the interior of the casing the fastening device is unlocked and the entire raising with the operating mechanism may be removed from the back or closure 35 by tilting the upper end forwardly and then unhoolting the flange 39 from the flange 38. When the casing is thus removed the closure '35 will remain secured to the support to which it is fastened. The articles are then placed in the casing and the latter secured in position.

Arranged within the base to ol the casing is the check controlled mechanism for controllii'igr the discharge of the articles from the machine, and this mechanism will now be described. Arranged to rotate within a suitable casing -l-l: secured to the front ot the casing and preite 'ably below the tray 30 is a rotatable disk to which is provided with a pocket l6 opening through the edge of the disk, for the reception of the check and the casing lel within which this disk rotates is also provided with an opening l5" so that the check may be inserted into the pocket. A handle l? is connected with tl e disk "for rotating the same and one extremity of the handle lS projects into the :asinn' and is connected with a'bearing element #9 journaled in a suitable support 50. Connected with the extension $8 of the handle so as to rotate therewith is an arm 51 which is provided with a shouldered extremity This arm is provided with a laterally dalected portion 53 for a purpose to be hereinali'ter set forth and an elastic member 5 is connected by one extremity to the arm and anchored by its other extremity to a lixed support. The elastic member is so arranged that it tends normally to move the arm 51. into the position shown in Figs. '7 and S and when the handle -l7 is rotated to lower the notched extremity of the arnn the elastic member 5% will be placed under tension. It desired the arm 51 may also be provided with a laterally deflected portion 55 to form a bearing for the elastic member when the arm is ro tated. Pivotally supported by the bearing element 49 is another element 50 which cooperates with the arm 51, and this element 56 is provided with a laterally deflected portion 5'7 which extends under the arm 51 and forms a seat for the check 58. Spaced projections 59 are provided on the laterally deflected portions 57 against which the edge of the check engages and these projections 59 are spaced from each other a distance sullieient to acconm'iodate a check or coin of a particular denomination or size so that when it is attempted to operate the mechanism with a smaller check and the check is depos ited on the seat 57 it will pass between the projections 59 and the element 56 will not be swung about its pivot.

The mechanism by which the check is delivered into the machine constitutes no part of the present invention but suilice it to say that when the check is deposited in the pocket 4L6 it will unlock the disk 15 to per mit it to revolve a sufiicient distance that the pocket 16 may become inverted and when thus inverted the check will drop out of the pocket and will pass down an incline 59 see Fig. 1, to be delivered to the seat 57. It will be obvious that in order to invert the pocket 46 the disk 45 must be rotated by the handle 47 and inasmuch as the arm is connected with the handle it will also be rotated. The arm 51 is so located with respect to the seat 57 that it will pass between the projections 59 previous to the time that the check is delivered to the seat. When the check is thus delivered to the seat the arm 51 will be in the rear thereof and the elastic member 54: will be placed under tension. If the check be a proper one, the notched extremity 52 of the arm, when the handle 47 is released to allow the elastic member 54 to operate upon the arm, will engage the edge of the check, and will force the check forwardly with respect to its seat 57 so that another portion of its edge will engage the projections 59. In this position, a further action of the elastic member on the arm will cause the arm through the medium of the check to become locked to the element 56 and this will cause the element to be swung about its pivot to raise the check seat into the position shown in Fig. 8 of the drawing, and the check will be held on its seat until the arm 51 moves away from the check which will permit the check to drop off of its seat and into the casing. Should a check which is not of the proper size be delivered into the machine and to the seat 57, it will be manifest that when the arm 51 is moved so that its notched extremity 52 engages the edge of the check, it will move the check on the seat 57 but inasmuch as it would not be of the proper size the arm will move it between the projections 59 and off of the check seat so that it will drop into the casing without swinging the element 56. The article to be vended is delivered from the machine and onto the tray 30 by a mechanism which operates directly in response to the actuation of the check control led mechanism thus described.

In the present exemplification of the in vention the articles are delivered by an ejector designated generally by the reference numeral 60 and this ejector is pivotally mounted intermediate its ends as at 61 to move about a substantially horizontal pivot while the ejector swings in a substantially upright plane. The ejector is preferably provided at one extremity with spaced fingers 62, the extremities of which are adapted to pass through openings 63 in the support 22 as shown more clearly in Figs. 7 and 10. The normal position of the ejector is such that the extremities of the fingers 62 will stand behind the article to be vended and when the ejector is swung about its pivot to move the fingers forwardly the lowermost article will be forced by these fingers through opening 26 and past the guard 27 to a position that it will drop from the support 22 and into the tray 30, from which latter it may be removed through the opening 29 in the base of the casing. After the article has been delivered the ejector is moved in the opposite direction about its pivot and from under the article so that another article will assume a position with its edge directly in front of the fingers to be ejected thereby at the next operation of the machine.

The mechanism whereby the ejector is swung about its point of pivotal support will now be described. The other end of the ejector 60 is shaped to form a cam 6 1 and the element 56 is provided with a laterally deflected portion 65 preferably provided with spaced anti-friction rollers 66 mounted thereon and between which anti-friction rollers a cam 61 of the ejector operates. The cam is so arranged that when the arm 51 is locked to the element 56 through the medium of the check, as heretofore described, the movement of the element about its pivot will cause the anti-friction rollers to operate upon the cam to swing the ejector 6O forwardly and thereby causethe fingers 62 of the ejector to eject one of the articles. After the article has been delivered and the element 56 is returned to its former position the anti-friction rollers will operate upon the cam to move the ejector in the opposite direction and into a position to eject the next article. After all of the articles have been delivered, the follower 23 will assume a position to rest upon the support 22. In order that this follower may be utilized as a locking means to prevent the insertion of a coin or check after the machine is empty which would cause the operator to lose the check, the follower is provided with recessed portions 67 in its forward edge and these recessed portions are so arranged that after the last article has been delivered and the follower drops upon the support within the path of the return movement of the fingers 62 of the ejector, the fingers will, upon such return movement enter these recesses and inasmuch as the fingers are notched on their rear faces 68 they will be held against return movement and inasmuch as the ejector cannot be returned to its normal position, the element 56 will through the medium of the cam 6a and the anti-friction rollers 66 be also held return m em nt. In

order to provide means whereby the disk to cannot be rotated sufliciently to deposit a checlc from the pocket it onto the incline 59 after the last article has been delivered from the machine and the ejector and ele ment 56 are locked against return movement in the manner just described, the laterally deflected portion 53 on the arm 51 is provided and the element is provided with the face (39, see particularly Figs. 8 and 11, with which the laterally deflected portion 52) contacts. That is to say when the element 50 is held in the position shown in Fig. 8 by the locking of the ejector (50 by the follower 23, and the arm 51 is rotated, its rotary movement will be arrested by the engagement of the laterally deflected portion 33 with the tacc (31) which latter is held within the path 01 movement of the portion 53. This will occur before the pocket 16 in the disk 47; assumes a position to deposit the check upon the incline .31), thereby preventing the deposit ot a check into the machine alter the last article ha. been discharged thcrc'trom and also preventing the actuation ol the check controlled mechanism. In order to hold in position tharticles 16 which are superposed upon each other and to prevent them from passing over the edge of the wall 21, the hacl: 35 ot the casing is provided with one or more torwardly inclined fingers 70 which extend from a point above the upper edge of the baclc :24: toward the said edge and terminate short thereof.

lVith this improved construction it will be manifest that it will be impossible tor an operator to lose his check atter the machine is empty. and by this construction of the casing. it will be apparent that the casing itselt forms the chute or hopper tor the articles to he vended and obviates the neces sity of providing an outer casing within which the chute is inserted. as is customary in all other machines ot this type. Furthermore the casing being constructed out of sheet metal may he stamped and pressed into shape at a material reduction in the cost of manufacture.

\l'hile in the present excmplification of this in ention the preferred forms of the parts and the preferred construction of the machine are herein shown and described, it to he understood that many changes may be made in the details of construction and in the combination and arrangement of the several parts, within the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit ot this invention. Obviously the aiitid'riction rollers on on the element 56 may be dispensed with and any other means provided which will, operate on opposite sides of the cam (it tor the purpose designed.

ll ith this improved construction it will be manit'est that when the ejector 60 and the element 56 are in the position shown in Fig.

1 of the drawings, the ejector 60 will he locked against pivotal movement, the cam (3-1; being so shaped that it will e'llcct this loching operation, and when thus locked it will be manifest that even should it be possible to insert an instrument within the casing so that it will engage the ejector, the ejector cannot he moved forwardly so as to eject one of the articles.

hat is claimed as new is:

1. A machine of the character described embodying an oscillating ejector 'lor delivering the articles, said ejector having a comparatively wide extremity, a portion ot said extren'iity being deflected laterally to form acam surface, a pivotally mounted actuating element, the pivot ot said element being disposed transversely of the pivot oi, the ejector, and means connected with the said element and movable over the said cam surface for swinging the said ejector.

2. A machine ot the character described emlmdying an oscillating ejector tor delivering the articles, said ejector having a com paratively wide extremity, a portion of said extremity being deflected laterally to form a cam surface, a pivotally mounted actuating element, the pivot ot said element being disposed transversely of the pivot ot the ejector, means connected with the said element and movable over the said cam surface tor swinging the said ejector in one direction. and means for swinging the ejector in the opposite direction.

3. A machine of the character described embodying an oscillating ejector lor delivering the articles. said ejector having a comparatively wide extremity, a portion of said extremity being deflected laterally to torm a cam surface, a pivotally mounted actuating element. the pivot of said element being dis posed transversely of the pivot ot the ejector, and means connected with the said element and movable over opposite 'laces of the said cam surface tor swinging the ejector first in one direction and. then in the opposite direction.

l-. A machine of the character described embodying an oscillating ejector tor delivering the articles, said ejector having a comparatively wide extremity, portions of said extremity being deflected laterally in opposite directions to form av cam surface, a pivotally mounted actuating element. the pivot of the element being disposed transversely of the pivot of the ejector, and spaced means connected with the said element and between which means the said cam surface is confined.

A machine of the character described embodying an oscillating ejector, one ex tremity of the ejector being shaped to form an extended cam surface, an actuating element movable about a pivot disposed trans versely of the pivot of the ejector, and means connected with the actuating element and movable over said cam surface for shifting the latter, a portion of the opposite extremity of the ejector being shaped to form a transversely disposed laterally projecting finger.

6. A machine of the character described embodying an oscillating ejector, one extremity of the ejector being shaped to form an extended cam surface, an actuating element movable about a pivot disposed transversely of the pivot of the ejector, and means connected with the actuating element and movable over said cam surface for shifting the latter, the edge of the opposite extremity of the ejector being bent laterally to form fingers, the extremity of the fingers projecting beyond the end of the body portion of said ejector.

In testimony whereof We have signed our names to this specification, in the presence of two subscribing Witnesses, on this 12th day of December, A. D. 1912.

ALFRED D. ANTOINE. CLARENCE O. TRAVIS. Vitnesses:

CHANNING L. SENTZ, F. E. SCHULTZ.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

